Final answer:
The communist government that fell after its residents sought to leave was that of East Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the end of Germany's communist rule and symbolized the broader decline of communism in Eastern Europe. The correct option is d. Germany.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Fall of Communist Governments in Europe
The communist government that fell after pressure from its residents, who wished to leave the country, was Germany. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) experienced a peaceful revolution in which citizens sought freedom and eventual reunification with West Germany. This movement was part of a wider wave of democratization that swept across Eastern Europe during the late 1980s and early 1990s, leading to the collapse of several communist governments.
In the 1980s, significant political and social changes occurred in the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev, who instituted policies of perestroika and glasnost that allowed for more open discussion and political participation while also decentralizing economic control. However, these reforms were not enough to prevent the eventual dissolution of the USSR. Meanwhile, in China, the death of Mao Zedong enabled his successor, Deng Xiaoping, to introduce economic reforms that incorporated elements of capitalism, though the political structure remained fundamentally communist. The Chinese government's response to Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 further illustrated its commitment to maintaining its authoritarian regime.
The events leading up to the fall of communism in Europe included peaceful revolutions in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. These movements were characterized by a lack of Soviet military intervention, a willingness by local governments to negotiate and make concessions, and significant involvement and pressure from the citizenry. The culmination of these events was symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, which not only marked a turning point in German history but also represented the beginning of the end for the Eastern bloc's communist regimes. Residents of Eastern Germany and other communist states were now able to freely cross into the West, effectively ending the physical and ideological division of Europe.
The correct option in the final answer is d. Germany.